Saturday, March 28, 2009

VC Saga: A New Beginning

In an entrepreneur's life every day is truly a new day. Yesterday may have been a disaster, but today can bring a new high. Well, for my friendly entrepreneur, yesterday was a fabulous day (see article one and two of this saga). Though rejected when the groom did not show at the altar, this entrepreneur kept right on pitching. She was rewarded with a new term sheet - a new lease on life! It was a time to celebrate anew, especially in a tight credit market where investors are scared to touch anything new (we're celebrating tonight).

It is a credit to my friend and her team that they found a way to draw inside themselves to keep moving on. The engineers and scientists did whatever they could, working in garages and donated laboratories to move the technology along. She had done this before. There was a whole group of folks that weren't going to give up because one VC acted like an idiot. If virtual paper pitch was not good enough, at least they could show technical progress. The more progress, the more likely things would work out. Not only did they make progress, some of the new discoveries are brand new to science. Yeah, it's that cool. It will solve a significant medical testing issue that can impact every budding family.

It's a new VC this time. This one is truly early stage that is associated with a much larger one. They have a strong, supportive track record. Given that the entrepreneur shamed the previous VC to pay legal costs for not coming through (a first), there's even a little upside in the process.

Now, this is not over yet. A term sheet does not mean money in the bank, and lightning can strike. However, if you truly believe and make the right connections, eventually you're company will get off the ground. It won't be the fairy tale that the press likes to dream up (like the silly pez dispenser stuff), but you'll get there. Even in a down economy!

About Rajiv

Founder of Position2, a digital marketing firm. Co-Founder of EffinFunny & Apieron Biosystems. Management background at AltaVista, Sun, NCR and AT&T. Educational background includes an MBA at Harvard Business School and a BS in Electrical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. Happily married with 4 amazing kids.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rajivparikh